Internal door issue

Have just hung a new internal door in our living room. House is probably around 1950/60 ish housing association house. Door frames are not straight and it has been a total ball ache to get it to fit in the frame and get doors that are as close in size as possible. Because the frame isn’t straight we had to sink the hinges into the door a bit deeper than expected to get the door to actually close and not keep catching the frame near the bottom but now when we close the door over shut there is resistance and it is making the paint/plaster around the door frame on the hinge side crack, we can see the issue is the door is too close to the frame and not enough clearance but how do we solve? The actual hinge space In the door frame itself aren’t terribly deep so unsure they would take packing? Should we take a slither more off the door hinge side? Thank you for any help

19 Answers

Your door needs a leading edge, away from the casing, it sounds like the door is hinge bound, the knuckle of the hindge needs to be a few mm away from the front edge of the casing, if you pull the door closed and there’s a slight gap down the rebate, then the door definitely needs a leading edge putting on it, hope this helps
26th Oct 2023
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J Witham and Sons
7 Reviews, 100% Positive
You need to take the hinges off and than offer up the door into the door frame
Mark with a pencil on the door where the door is touching the frame allowing for any even gap all the way around the top and sides of the door
You will than need to plane the door down too the pencil marks
Refit hinges and rehang door
23rd Oct 2023
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It seems the best way is to pack out the hinge and plane the closing edge side of the door. This often means taking the lock out first and refitting the lock
13th Nov 2023
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It will definitely need a little more taken off maybe on the leading edge so hinges dont need adjusting
24th Oct 2023
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A.c joinery
0 Reviews
Yes I would take I couple of mm off the hinge side and make sure the hinges are set correctly in terms of the binder having enough room hope thus helps
9th Nov 2023
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Doda1
0 Reviews
Take of the door stops, around the frame
Close the door, take e thick pencil, and mark the door around the door frame, slide the pencil around the door frame, normally the gap between the door and door frame should be 3 mm ,
Finally, cut the door where the pencil marks are.
20th Dec 2023
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Plane a bit more from door and re rebate the hinges so flush with door
4th Jan 2024
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GENERAL CARPENTER
1 Reviews, 100% Positive
I suggest dismantling the door,
assemble a new frame - made on site from boards adapted to make a frame -
adjust the opening to the width of the door,
level the frame and then reinstall the door to the adjusted door frame
4th Jan 2024
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BCL Maintenance
0 Reviews
Best bet is a new door frame £30 bnq
17th Jan 2024
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ttcarpentry
0 Reviews
This needs the hinge pockets on the door to be packed out to allow a 3mm gap between the door & door frame on the hinge side. The latching side of the door will now be hitting the door frame, this side of the door now needs to be planed down to achieve a 3mm gap again but on the latching side this time.
8th Jan 2024
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BLOC Carpentry
0 Reviews
Hi
I am assuming the doors are finished? I mean oak veneered ? Is this why you don’t want to cut into the door ? You actually need to take maybe 2mm off of each side. All doors weather finished or not have a small tolerance for removal. It’s usually 3mm each side on the length and 10mm top and bottom. Pack the hinges back out because if you go too deep then the hinge will not be able to do its job and it’ll make the door spring open or split the timber on the door or the frame and over time it will pull away. Hope this helps
6th Feb 2024
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justroofing
0 Reviews
It sounds like you've encountered a common issue with older homes where door frames aren't perfectly straight. Since you've already adjusted the hinges to sink deeper into the door to prevent catching, the next step would be to create more clearance on the hinge side to alleviate the resistance. You can do this by carefully shaving a small amount of material off the edge of the door on the hinge side using a plane, rasp, or sander. Take off a little at a time and check the fit until the door closes smoothly without resistance. Alternatively, you can try adjusting the position of the hinges slightly to create more clearance, but be cautious not to compromise the structural integrity of the door or frame. If needed, consult a professional carpenter for assistance.
19th Feb 2024
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Solid packing behind the hinge is required timber and glued not cardboard slithers. If the frame is cracked already. You could remove the arkitrave and alter frame to suite
19th Feb 2024
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Garrett Joinery
0 Reviews
From the description it sounds like it is hinge bound and the hinges need to be flush with the door and frame and more needs shooting off of the handle side and given a leading edge to so it leaves a gap on the hinge side and latch side.
7th Feb 2024
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The door may be check bound
8th Mar 2024
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Firstly any cuts or adjustment made to a door should be done equally , for instance planing 20mm from a door should be ideally done by taking 10mm off each side .
Best way or the way I adjust a door is to rub a bit of chalk down the door frame edge and close the door, the chalk will hit the door in the tight spots and this is where the door will need planing.
Sinking the hinges further into the door frame will cause issues with opening and closing . I generally hang a door with 5 mm clearance all the way around .
6th Mar 2024
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By the description you need a new door frame fitted correctly for the door to fit correctly.
18th Mar 2024
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Personally, from hearing this issue I would of chopped the hinges to start off with at normal debth and then planed the door to suit the frame.
28th Mar 2024
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BK WOODWORK
0 Reviews
Ideally the door should have been trimmed to suite the frame prior to cutting in the hinges.
However if door shuts although binding on the frame yes you can plane off the hinge side of the door accordingly
27th Mar 2024
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